The Smiley family, guardians of the almost-mystical Mohonk Mountain House and the enchanted natural world that surrounds the iconic Quaker castle on the hill, lost two of their loved ones this past week. Gerow Smiley, 98, and his sister Patricia Smiley Guralnik, 84, were two pillars of the Mountain House culture: one larger-than-life, the other happiest to keep the music flowing like a soundtrack with no title, as quiet as fire and as vibrant as the mountainside in autumn.
Both Gerow and Patricia grew up on the grounds of the Mountain House, running along the rooftop, racing up the Labyrinth Trail to the Sky Top tower, diving off the dock into the lake and chasing one another and their other two siblings through the garden mazes. “That was her playground,” mused one of Patricia’s three daughters, Louisa Finn. “She befriended guests and employees and ran around the grounds with her cocker spaniel in tow.”
Doc (Paul) Smiley, on of Gerow’s children, agreed, noting that his father “always had a special interest in the land and its features, both natural and those modified by human use – farms in particular. He spent much of his childhood exploring and working all over the large property, and thus had a reservoir of knowledge regarding the trails, forests, springs, streams, ponds, cliffs and caves.”
Along with almost everyone with whom Hudson Valley One spoke about Gerow, Doc emphasized that his father’s hallmark quality was enjoyment and enthusiasm for people. “As much as he liked working the land, probably of greater significance to the overall success of [Mohonk Mountain House] was his connection to people,” he said. “He was one of the most accessible family members to every person on the staff, to all the guests.”
Patty Matteson – the daughter of another Smiley sibling, Rachel – worked alongside her uncle Gerow for decades. “Gerow gave everyone at Mohonk a compassionate ear. From new to longtime guests to new, former or longtime staff could find Gerow in Room 7 or out fixing a field fence, clearing a trail or out on a carriage road, and were given his full attention, an open heart and ear and an honest and genuine response,” Matteson recalled. “He was a lifelong learner: Everyone who spoke to him was questioned about their views on a wide range of topics, from how they are, what they like, how they see social, political, historical or spiritual issues. He was always concerned about ‘Mohonk people’s’ welfare, how their families were doing and what they were thinking.”
This must have been a family trait that settled into the DNA of what Finn lovingly refers to as “Generation Three.” “Two themes that came out of the informal gathering we had for Mom this weekend was her sense of warmth and compassion towards people. She always made people feel valued, and tended to give her attention to anyone who was suffering – to the point where, when she met my father [Robert Guralnik], someone asked her, ‘What’s wrong with him, Pat?’”
While Mohonk was always Gerow’s first home, he did leave the homestead for large clips at a time – joining the Navy, heading out West as a cattle rancher, going to veterinarian college and opening a private practice in Colorado, calling square dances, singing, playing guitar and always impressing listeners as a charming and dazzling raconteur. Doc mentioned that, with his father’s travels and extensive circles of friends, he “acquired multiple names. His birth certificate says Lucius Gerow Smiley, but he is also known as Kip, Bub, Bubby, Gerow and occasionally Luke, and his Navy records list him as Bob!”
Besides his genuine love of people who came through the gates of Mohonk, Gerow cared deeply about the sustainability of the business and valued what Matteson called “the long view” of the family enterprise. “He saw the issues his grandparents and parents, aunts and uncles, then cousins faced during the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, upheavals and major business changes during the 1960s. He was there during the creation of Mohonk Preserve and Mohonk Consultations,” Matteson said, noting that his greatest involvement was in helping to shape Mohonk’s tendency toward self-sufficiency.
“With five farms on the property and the pressures of the Great Depression, in the late 1950s, he became involved in raising horses for Mohonk’s riding and carriage businesses, as well caring for its dairy herd. Mohonk provided its own milk and cream for the guests up until the late ‘60s or early ‘70s. He also started a Christmas tree plantation on one of the old fields. Firewood was collected, ice was harvested from the lake for guest consumption, springwater brought to the House from a spring under Sky Top, gravel crushed at the slate bank to repair carriage trails, sheep and pigs were raised for consumption. In the 1980s he developed a compost operation, which recycled all the hotel food waste. The resulting compost continues to enrich Mohonk’s flower gardens. He co-founded the Brook Farm Project CSA with the late Dan Guenther.”
While the men took the more executive roles at Mohonk throughout the generations, Louisa and her sister, Maria Guralnik of High Falls, were both quick to point out how their mother had inserted both her love of music and art into the Mountain House culture. “She loved music and grew up with her mother, Rachel Orcutt Smiley, hosting music salons in the 1920s,” said Guralnik. “My Dad was a super-handsome pianist, and I think it was music that really drove her to him. It flowed through her life,” said Finn.
To that end, in 1989 Patricia founded the Mohonk Mountain House Festival of the Arts, whereby musicians, singers, bands, performers, live theater and artists of all kinds were invited to participate in this annual celebration of the arts in summer – a tradition that is carried on today. Maria was quick to note that her mother also served on the Board of Trustees for 22 years and was an active member in guiding the family busines into the future. “That was something she was very proud of,” she said.
When Matteson was asked what she’d miss about Gerow most, she said, “I will miss his company. He had a wonderfully positive and humorous view of life. He made one feel valued, equal and a joint companion on the marvelous road of life.” She also loved his ability to put a positive spin on almost anything. “He said to me on one occasion, after his truck, unattended, rolled downhill into some willow bushes and he drove it back up onto the driveway with ‘only’ a bent side mirror and a long crease along the passenger side, ‘How lucky is that?’”
Brought up in a Quaker home and becoming a teacher and serving in several different professional capacities, Finn noted that what surprised many people about their mother was “what a dry wit she had. She loved to make people laugh, and that she liked to gamble!”
“Growing up in a hotel, Mom wasn’t much of a cook,” said Guralnik. “She used to love to lunch out at the Egg’s Nest or the High Falls Café, and even when [Egg’s Nest owner] Richard Murphy moved to Arizona, he sent cards for Mom once a month. She had this way of connecting with people.”
“As an elder family member, Gerow always reminded us of the original mission guiding our family business and was an important family advocate for preserving the land and grounds surrounding the Mountain House,” said Sandra Smiley, daughter of Gerow and Patricia’s first cousin Keith. “Gerow was pretty transparent; he would be available to talk with anyone…He was endlessly and genuinely curious. I will miss sharing the family office with him and our discussions about Mohonk and life.”
Both siblings enjoyed each other’s company and shared a love of music, a deep affection for people and a connection to the land and the Mountain House that helped shape the arc of their dynamic lives.
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